The Brief: Montford — Perry Called Me About DA Position

The Big Conversation

Mindy Montford, a former candidate for Travis County DA and daughter of former state Sen. John Montford, confirmed on Sunday that Gov. Rick Perry called to see if she was interested in replacing District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg, the Austin American-Statesman and KVUE-TV reported.

The conversation to gauge her interest took place in June 2013, before Perry's threat became public to veto funding for the public integrity unit if Lehmberg did not resign. "The revelation shows the level at which Perry was directly involved in attempts to force Lehmberg’s resignation and appoint a successor in the days leading up to his June 14 veto — rather than high-level aides coordinating the effort and briefing the governor," wrote the Statesman's Tony Plohetski.

Perry's reaching out to a Democrat "also indicates the governor’s effort to possibly be bipartisan in naming a Lehmberg replacement." Montford ran for DA in 2008, losing in a party primary runoff against Lehmberg in the contest to succeed Ronnie Earle.

This would not be the first time Perry has pushed for a position for a Montford. In 2009, Perry backed Montford's father for UT System chancellor, a post eventually given to Francisco Cigarroa.

The Day Ahead

• The House Energy Resources subcommittee on seismic activity meets at 1 p.m. in the Capitol Extension to take testimony from the Railroad Commission of Texas. (agenda)

• The full program has been announced for the 2014 Texas Tribune Festival, which runs from Sept. 19-21 at the University of Texas at Austin. Featuring 10 tracks, 44 sessions and over 200 speakers, this weekend is not to be missed!